Community Discussion > Flight Operations

Tropical Traders Event; the whole story in pictures

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EHM-2758 Peter:
Just completed a thunderstormy flight together with Gian, David and Eric-Jan and not without problems (as usual). I forgot to put my generators on and therefore thought my radio's didn't work (thanks again EJ for the tip ;)), Gian had a rough landing, EJ forgot to load FL! :-[ Still we had a lot of fun, especially at our destination, where the total different sceneries generates very strange locations of the landing strip at WAMT.

We finally did meet at the FSX airfield, after some floating and bushtracking of David and EJ.

Peter

EHM-2387 Eric-Jan:
Haha! Yes, of course I pushed through those thunder clouds.  ;D
In real life I would not; I would even not have departed, as I could see the thunderstorm ahead already.
But at FL150, I was above the worst of the weather, and it looked like it would clear up further down the route.

But when descending back through the cloud layer (which, again, is not allowed when flying VFR), I hit a dense, dark grey layer with enormous amounts of rain and turbulence. I found myself at 90 degree bank angles, even upside-down at times  :o
By the time I reached the bottom of the layer, I was in a 45 degree nose down position, doing 200 KIAS, at around 4000 feet, inverted!!! Push the yoke, throttle closed, level off. Then get up-side-up by doing a low level barrel roll ...  :o :o
At the "bottom" of it all, I hit 500 ft, after which I climbed to altitudes ranging from 1200 ft to 600 ft to stay below that clouds (I got in those clouds again during the barrel roll procedure, which threw me right back down to the watery surface).
By then I had temporarily lost my Airspeed Indicator (due to icing?), and my VOR needle got stuck at 90 degrees, so I probably was out of range at this altitude and distance. Luckily, I had the NDB punched in already, and that gave a reading after a little while. So I could find my way to Ternate. Even though I started as the second one of the group, I landed last, because of my climbing to FL150, and my little course deviations ;) (I ended up coming out of the thunder clouds in a westerly direction, where the broad course of the leg was easterly ... )

Another thing we noticed was that a hasty take-off leads to errors that may have consequences ... When I initially levelled off at 9500ft, I took the time to check those things I tend to forget: gear up - OK, flaps up - OK, switches; landing lights - Ah, forgot to put them on - no need now any more, mental note to switch them on later, batteries - both on -OK, generators - oops, both off, better switch them on now; transponder on - OK.
Less than 5 minuter later, Peter said he had lost his radio - it turned out that he too had forgotten to switch on the generators  :D
Meanwhile, David told me he could not see me on our website, doing the flight. Is FL recording? Ah, no! I started up XP10 at WAAT, because I had flown the last legs on FSX. So FL did not recognise me at the origin airport. I stopped FL (Flight=> New => ProPilot flight, without pressing the "lock flight" button) to reload at WAMG. And you guessed it; I never started FL again  :-[

I think I'll re-fly the leg this evening, or maybe tomorrow evening, in order to have FL record it. Maybe I'll even give FSX a go for that, again, just to taste the difference.

Lesson learned:
Create, and USE, a check list.

It must be complete, yet usable.
The check list that came with the LES DC-3 is a 4-page one, which is difficult to read. Sure, it adds to the nostalgic feel, if the check list is in a font that resembles an old typewriter, printed on stained yellow paper with jagged edges. But if it is unpractical to use, it will sit on the desk as a stack of paper (as it is with me, for a couple of weeks already). Plus, of course, the checklist does not tell you to start FlightLogger, or switch on your IvAp transponder to mode C ;)
So that's my resolve for the next leg: create a TT tour specific check list...

EHM-2758 Peter:
Here the Doodle-link for leg 9 of the Tropic Traders Tour from WAMT to WASR: http://www.doodle.com/zdpweyf8bt4dqckw

Peter

EHM-1417 Tamas:
Almost a disaster for Eurohamony Va. DC3's machine in Indonesia.

Still under investigation. Pilot reports that the center tank tried to switch to the rear tank for the fuel system valves. In this case, however, the right engine shut down unexpectedly. Why suddenly collapsed, and so violently to the left of the machine, and then lost 6,000 feet altitude? Mystery. Fortunately, no serious injuries went their way. Aircraft currently in West Papua Manokwai Rendani airport located near the city investigate structural damage, and other problems in search.

Video available:
Euroharmony Tropical Traders Event legs 9. - Emergency in airborne.

And before legs created few pictures:
Images of the sections in the order they are.

Legs 6.
Rattle, oil pump muck's voice is mad. In Indonesia, the mechanics were not the case heights. At last we landed éppségben. Tomorrow comes the next stage.

Legs 7.
Goodbye Tana Toraj Pongtiku. Jalaludinban I hope you finally get the machine to the new paint.

Legs 8.
Therefore fears, it falls to us in the tropical night, and we're not going to see it? - In Babullah Airport is an airport in Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia (IATA: TTE, ICAO: WAMT).

EHM-2387 Eric-Jan:
Wow, Tames!
Some hair raising times there!

Good of you have taken your Drift HD or GoPro  3 "Black Edition" with you to record it all.
That way, we can all learn from your experience ;)

I always struggle with the fuel tank switches in the X-Plane 10 Leading Edge Simulation's DC-3, especially on the RH side. It always results in shutting the right engine down involuntarily, and restarting again when fuel flow is positive again. With my head dug deep down under in the cockpit, it's always a surprise when I resurface what attitude she has  ;D

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